NewsWatch
Keeping a critical eye on Uber,
Lyft and other transportation
network companies
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This is the latest edition of AFT NewsWatch, a weekly service of Advocates for Fairness in Transportation, an ad hoc group of regulated transportation service companies dedicated to informing and educating the public on threats to public safety and fair commerce from so-called ride-sharing or ride-booking services such as Uber and Lyft. Visit the Archive to read previous editions. Click here to join our mailing list.
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Uber drivers may add $1 billion bounty claim as trial nears
Uber Technologies Inc. drivers suing to be treated like employees are trying to add $1 billion in penalties under California's unique "bounty hunter" statute as they prepare for trial in June. About 240,000 current and former Uber drivers in California are covered by the lawsuit, which claims they've been wrongly classified as independent contractors and so should be reimbursed for expenses and tips under state law. Those claims alone could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars if the world's biggest ride-hailing service loses.
Read more from Bloomberg
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Uber cars rack up violations for illegal street hails as NYC proposes crackdown
Forget tapping an app for that Uber - there are drivers who will pick you up off the street for fast cash. Taxi and Limousine Commission summons data shows that cars tied to Uber bases are among the worst offenders for illegal street pickups, with 2,825 tickets issued between the start of 2015 and this year, through March 4. That's nearly a fifth of the 14,884 summonses for unauthorized rides issued in that stretch. The five car bases that received the most infractions - totaling 2,335 tickets - belong to Uber.
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Uber is a nightmare: They're selling a big lie - and the New York Times keeps buying it
Uber has been slowly rolling out its latest "trust me, I'm saving the world" product, this one a service that allows its Uber-taxis to pick up multiple passengers in serial fashion. Much like a commercial airport shuttle, strangers share part of the same ride and pay a reduced fare for just their part of the ride. It's called UberPool, as in carpool, and CEO Travis Kalanick touted its alleged environmental and labor positives in a recent interview with the New York Times, saying that "reducing traffic was part of Uber's mission."
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Uber for women is a great idea-except for one thing
A new women-only ride-sharing service, Chariot for Women, is set to launch April 19 in Boston, Massachusetts. Surprisingly, its founder is not a former female passenger who felt unsafe in an Uber-as many of us have-but Michael Pelletz, an Uber driver who had a revelation when he felt threatened by a passenger. "What if I was a woman?" Pelletz, wrote on the company's website. In fact, worries about safety are why his wife Kelly-who is now Chariot for Women's president-decided not to drive for Uber, he said.
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Court docs reveal details in alleged Uber ride rape
A former Uber driver accused of raping a passenger in February came on to the woman as she was vomiting in the backseat of his car, court records show. John David Sanchez, 52, was arrested March 29 on suspicion of raping an intoxicated person. He has been arraigned and has pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Uber issued a statement the day of his arrest that Sanchez was terminated "immediately" after the allegations surfaced and has not been providing rides to patrons.
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Court appearance set for Uber driver accused of rape
An Uber driver accused of raping a customer last Halloween will appear in court later this month. Emmett Lyons Jr., was arrested last month on charges he attacked a passenger after driving her home from a party. Uber officials said the company pre-screens all its drivers and doesn't hire anyone who has committed a crime within the last seven years. Channel 4 discovered Lyons had been in jail. He was released less than a year before he was hired by Uber. Lyons' next court appearance is scheduled for April 27.
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Oceanside man denied Uber ride over service dog
An Oceanside man claims he was denied an Uber ride because of his service dog. Ryan Benicky takes his dog Sterling everywhere. The Labrador/Rhodesian mix is Benicky's service dog. Benicky called for an Uber ride, and a driver in a Lexus pulled up a short time later. "And as soon as he saw the dog, he said, 'Oh, I can't take you.' I said, 'Why?' He said, 'Oh, my car's too nice, the seats are too nice,'" said Benicky. Benicky, who has PTSD, told the driver that was discrimination.
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911 caller describes 'crazy' ride with accused Kalamazoo Uber shooter
The release of 911 calls reporting a "super crazy" Uber driver traveling dangerously, nearly an hour before the start of a spate of shootings that left six people dead and others severely injured in Kalamazoo, Michigan, raised some concerns today after it was revealed that the caller had been transferred not once but twice to different dispatchers that evening. "Hi, I'd like to report a crazy driver," the male caller told the first dispatcher around 4:30 p.m. Feb. 20. "I just got an Uber to my friend's house and on the way there, he was driving erratic. ... He drove through the woods and then finally I just jumped out. ..."
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Wake County Uber driver accused of groping woman
When he was arrested and charged with sexual battery, a Wake County man listed his employee as Uber, the app-based taxi service. That suspect, 41-year-old Christopher George Wolinski, has a lengthy criminal record. He was working for a cleaning company when a north Raleigh homeowner said he grabbed her from behind and started grinding into her. That victim decided to speak to ABC11 about her experience. She said it's empowering to share her story, and she wants other women to be on alert.
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Federal judge not so sure Uber and Lyft are any different from cab companies
What's the difference between Uber and a taxi company? A federal judge isn't so sure there's much of one. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton ordered the city of Boston to revise its taxi regulations within six months, and to give the court a good reason why the city shouldn't be forced to regulate taxis and other ride-hailing services in the same way. He did so while refusing to dismiss a claim from taxi companies that the city was violating their equal-protection rights because they are being held to a different standard than the new-age transportation services, which are unregulated by the city.
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Federal judge not so sure Uber and Lyft are any different from cab companies
What's the difference between Uber and a taxi company? A federal judge isn't so sure there's much of one. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton ordered the city of Boston to revise its taxi regulations within six months, and to give the court a good reason why the city shouldn't be forced to regulate taxis and other ride-hailing services in the same way. He did so while refusing to dismiss a claim from taxi companies that the city was violating their equal-protection rights because they are being held to a different standard than the new-age transportation services, which are unregulated by the city. Read more from Boston.com
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Federal judge not so sure Uber and Lyft are any different from cab companies
What's the difference between Uber and a taxi company? A federal judge isn't so sure there's much of one. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton ordered the city of Boston to revise its taxi regulations within six months, and to give the court a good reason why the city shouldn't be forced to regulate taxis and other ride-hailing services in the same way. He did so while refusing to dismiss a claim from taxi companies that the city was violating their equal-protection rights because they are being held to a different standard than the new-age transportation services, which are unregulated by the city. Read more from Boston.com
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Ride-hailing app drivers probed on safety issues
Transportation authorities in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, will shut down online ride-hailing services for hundreds of independent drivers after they were found to have had previous "illegal behaviors". According to the Shenzhen Transportation Commission, 1,425 drivers were found to have taken drugs and another 1,661 had "serious" criminal records before they worked with online ride-hailing companies. "Such previous illegal behavior poses a threat to passenger safety," said Yu Li, an official with the commission.
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Uber passenger leads police on chase while driver sleeps, crashes car: Police
An Uber passenger who took the wheel while the driver slept crashed in New York while trying to elude police, authorities said. State police said 20-year-old New York City resident Juan Carlos hired the car in Philadelphia to take him 200 miles to central New York. Police said the driver asked Carlos, of the Bronx, to take the wheel while he napped, and a trooper later clocked Carlos going 86 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 81 near Binghamton.
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Uber driver says wages work out to about $8 an hour
Raph Assaf signed up to drive with Uber a couple of weeks ago, attracted by the independence of the job, and his interest in learning more about the controversial ride-booking company. "Something didn't sit right with me," said Assaf, a film director who recently moved to Ottawa from British Columbia. "They are promoting paying $20, $30s an hour versus fares being so low." Assaf calculated that over the past two weeks he's worked 40 hours, picked up 130 fares and made a little over $500.
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Uber agrees to settlement of up to $25 million in misleading-advertising suit
Uber agreed to a $25-million settlement in a lawsuit alleging the ride-hailing company misled and overcharged customers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascon filed the consumer protection lawsuit against Uber in 2014, accusing the company of overstating its customer-safety policy in marketing materials and adding unnecessary fees for tolls and airport drop-offs.
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Judge says Lyft's $12M settlement doesn't pay drivers enough
A federal judge has denied a proposed settlement of more than $12 million in a class-action suit against the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company Lyft. US District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that the agreement, which would have extended additional benefits to drivers as well as monetary compensation, shortchanged Lyft drivers by as much as half of what they deserve. The settlement agreement "does not fall within the range of reasonableness," Chhabria wrote. The judge asked the attorneys of both parties to come to a new agreement by May.
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Local Uber driver being investigated for stalking and groping customers
It's the kind of story that makes you think twice about hiring someone to give you a ride. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and St. Augustine Beach Police Department are both investigating a local woman's claim that an Uber driver stalked her and groped her friend following a night of partying. Donna Reed says it all started when they hired that driver - a man named Brian - while bar-hopping in Saint Augustine Beach. "It was extremely scary," Reed added.
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Newark seeks to regulate Uber
The Newark City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to advance a measure that would require that app-based ride share drivers pay to the city an annual fee of $1,000 for a "Liberty License" to operate within city limits. But the license would not allow drivers to pick up passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport or Newark Penn Station, two areas that have been at the center of a turf war between Uber and city cabbies.
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